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BY 



MARGARETTA AYRES KARR 



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Copyright, 1917 by Margaretta Ayres Karr 



NOV -I 1917 



PRESS OF 

C. E. Jameson & Son 
Buffalo, N. Y. 



©CU 4 7995 



flf^UEEN of the flowers! a queen in very truth, 
^S' Thou reignest in all hearts, nor mine alone: 
Although my heart would claim thee for its own. 
The finest of the flowers in sober sooth, 
Thy balmy breath is cure for every ruth. 
So fondly loved wherever thou art known, 
The heart of hearts is but thy royal throne: 
What shall I call thee but a rose forsooth. 



•For me, my love hath e'en a sweeter name: 
I lisp it o'er and o'er as in a dream, 
As one awaking calls for love the same. 
Ne'er will it mean the more nor sweeter seem, 
Than when for love of Him it mine became: 
When time is o'er its deathless fame will gleam. 



Contents; 



Spiritual 

The Flower of Love ...... 1 

The Royal Road 2 

Face to Face ....... 3 

Love of Our Life ....... 4 

He Comes to Me ....... 5 

His Word 6 

The Bread of God 7 

He Is Coming ........ 8 



Social 

Sombody's Sister .... 
If We Only Knew . 
A Mother . . - . 
Come Back to Christ and Mother 
The Old Songs .... 
The Newsie . . . . . 
The Wherefore of Non-Church Going 
The Worst -of It . 



9 
10 

11 
12 
13 
14 
15 
16 



patriotic 



My Country ..... 


17 


America First ...... 


. 18 


A United America .... 


19 


The Stars and Stripes .... 


. 20 


The Flag 


21 


The Conscript ..... 


. 22 


The Slacker ..... 


23 


A Mother's Sacrifice . 


. 24 


I'll Be Thinking of You, Mother . 


25 


God's Call to the Nations 


. 26 



THE FLOWER OF LOVE. 

OME into my garden, come in, I pray, 
And cull for yourself the flowers so gay; 
But lest you o'erlook the one most fair, 
I'll tell you how it is blooming there. 

The seed was tiny and slow to sprout, 
And the weeds tried hard to choke it out; 
But it grew and flourished with tenderest care, 
To the loveliest bloom of earth and air. 

A favoring breeze blew it softly there, 
From the heavenly garden's flower most fair; 
And a sweeter fragrance no flower will grow, 
Than this beautiful flower you may come to know. 

It sheds its perfume on all around, 
So nowhere a fairer flower is found; 
And the more you pluck it to give away, 
The more it bloometh day by day. 

Would you know the name of this flower so fair, 
That on your heart you may ever wear? 
'Tis the one most grown in the garden above, 
The flower of all flowers, the flower of love. 



THE ROYAL ROAD. 

3|jJ E NOT anxious for the morrow, 
7& Walk ye in the Royal road. 
Take not up tomorrow's burdens, 

Lest you faint beneath the load. 
Only for the day is promised, 

Grace sufficient for your need. 
Is not life more than the raiment? 

Will He not His children feed? 

Trust Him for tomorrow's sorrow, 

Joyful walk with Christ today; 
There may be for you no morrow, 

He will care for you alway: 
For tomorrow when it cometh, 

Is for you the present day. 
Daily strength He then supplieth, 

For the evils of the way. 

Pure and spotless are the lilies, 

Which He clothes with heavenly dress: 
Ye are far of greater value, 

He will care for you no less. 
Ask in prayer for all things needful; 

He, who notes the sparrow's fall, 
Will not let His children suffer, 

For God watches over all. 

Hear His gracious invitation: 

"Come, ye weary laden, come; 
I will give you rest from labor:" 

This of all gifts is the sum. 
Go to Christ for hourly strengthening, 

"As thy day thy strength shall be." 
Trust Him for the day's appointing, 

Tho' the veil be over thee. 



FACE TO FACE. 

qjf N WONDROUS vision of the night, 
*** Christ newly spake to clear my sight; 
Addressing me and one like me, 
As if He would true answered be: 
"Am I not more than any loss, 
Than any trial, any cross?" 

And thinking of His strengthening grace, 

In every trouble I did face, 

I lowly bowed in reverence new, 

In affirmation true most true: 

Yea, Thou art more than any loss, 

Than any trial, any cross. 

Reflecting on the might of love, 
That bore me on her wings above, 
When weighted with the sorrow sore; 
I bowed in affirmation more: 
Yea, Thou art more than any loss, 
Than any trial, any cross. 

And I awoke to feel no more, 
The burden pressing sore so sore; 
For I had seen Him face to face, 
In all His plentitude of grace: 
In love that's more than any loss, 
Than any trial, any cross. 



LOVE OF OUR LIFE. 

'jff OVE of our life, Thou glorious Friend, 
**+ In sun and shadow e'er the same; 
Thy truth and light our way attend, 
Till we in heaven Thy name acclaim: 
Love of our life, our heart's pure love, 
We will to Thee true faithful prove. 

Love of our life, abiding guest, 
Indwelt to comfort, counsel, cheer; 
Thy presence sweet our constant rest, 
Our peace Thy sympathetic tear: 
Love of our life, our heart's pure love, 
We will to Thee true faithful prove. 

Love of our life, Thou Saviour sweet, 
Lifting the load of sin's great weight; 
Pointing the way for wayward feet, 
Thou giv'st to us our lost estate: 
Love of our life, our heart's pure love, 
We will to Thee true faithful prove. 



HE COMES TO ME. 

E COMES to me across the wave, 
When seas of sorrow roll; 
When clouds of unbelief have cast, 
A midnight o'er the soul. 

He comes awalking to my fear; 

Alas, I know Him not! 
The mists of doubt obscure the sight, 

I am befogged somewhat. 

He speaks — I know the tender tone, 

The cadence of His voice: 
My spirit mounts — my faith uplifts; 

My heart doth now rejoice. 

I touch His stole of living faith, 

That vitalizes soul; 
And from the bane of doubt, mistrust, 

Lo, straightway I am whole. 



HIS WORD. 

HEN I'm afaint and weary, 
He whispers to my heart, 
The word that is most cheery, 

That straight doth strength impart. 

When fears arise to fright me, 
He stills my troubled breast, 

With words that most delight me, 
The word of all the rest. 

'Tis, "Fear not": if I'm feary, 

"Nor ever dismayed be." 
'Tis, "I'm thy God"; when dreary, 

"Alway to be with thee." 

If 'fore Him I am kneeling, 
His word doth sweetly fall, 

"I'll hear while you're appealing; 
I'll answer 'fore you call." 

So round about beneath me, 

The everlasting arms; 
So fold infold to sheathe me, 

The love that ill disarms. 



THE BREAD OF GOD. 

IVE us e'er this bread of heaven, 
That which cometh from above, 
That it's sustenance sustain us, 
That we live the life of love. 

That we know the life abundant. 
Flowing freely from Thy life; 
Life unbroken in its current, 
Life victorious over strife. 

That we hunger for its living, 
Pray we with the will and heart: 
That we feed upon its giving, 
So we ne'er from Thee depart. 



HE IS COMING. 

E IS coming! He is coming! 
For the thousands of the earth, 
Who through faith in overcoming, 
Are accounted of such worth. 

Here and there He'll come aseeking, 
Seeking those who love His will; 

When to them asweetly speaking, 
He will all His joy fulfill. 

Coming in the clouds of glory, 
Coming newly for His own; 

That with Him through ages hoary, 
They may sit upon a throne. 

Coming ere the tribulation, 

That shall fill the earth with woe; 

Snatching thus His new creation, 
'Fore the falling of the blow. 

Ere from earth departs His spirit, 
That restraineth man from ill: 

Coming so that naught dispirit 
Those who live to do His will. 



% 



SOMEBODY'S SISTER. 

HlNK of her purely, ye men of the street; 
Give but the cheer of the friendly greet; 
Pay the respect you would pay to a queen, 
No matter how poor, how humble the mien. 
She's earning a wage for mother maybe, 
Fighting the battles of life bravely. 
Show her by act you are gentleman true, 
For somebody's sister she is to you. 

Shield her from injury, insult and wrong, 
Help her to turn life's tears into song. 
Place no temptation of ill in her way; 
Throw no cloud of shame over her fair day; 
But help her to stand more finely erect, 
Enthroned in her virtue — the lady elect. 
Show her by act you are gentleman true, 
For somebody's sister she is to you. 

Give her the lift of the needed word, 

What of her life you have truly heard: 

Devotion to duty — uprightness of heart, 

The womanly way she is playing her part; 

The burdens brave shouldered, the sorrows upborne, 

Day in and day out, from even to morn. 

Show her by act you are gentleman true, 

For somebody's sister she is to you. 

Somebody's sister, she's safe with you, 
Held in respect in honor due; 
High in esteem for qualities great, 
Though shabby the dress and lowly the state. 
The pathway made straighter for her tired feet, 
In goings and comings along your street. 
Shown by your act you are gentleman true, 
For somebody's sister she is to you. 



IF WE ONLY KNEW. 

TflT F WE only knew, we would be so kind; 
** We would nor the things that vex us mind; 
We would plant the rose instead of the thorn, 
In the smiling of the early morn, 
If we only knew. 

If we only knew, we would lend a hand, 
To help the brave more bravely stand, 
In the onset of the day's fierce fight; 
And not to shadow the morning light, 
If we only knew. 

If we only knew, when we parted here, 
We would give the smile for the word of cheer, 
To speed the loved one on his way, 
In the dawning of the opening day, 
If we only knew. 

If we only knew, we would hurt no more, 
The heart so reft with the sorrows sore; 
The feet so pierced with the cruel nail; 
We would give the greet of the loving hail, 
If we only knew. 

If we only knew, we would meet no more, 
The loved who pass from out our door; 
We would strew the way with lilies sweet; 
We would fragrant make the weary feet, 
If we only knew. 



10 



A MOTHER. 

^|W|tf HAT is a mother, mamma, dear?" 
WW' A childish voice rang sweetly clear. 
"When Willie-boy was sick all night, 
The love that watched till morning light, 
That smoothed the pillow, bathed his head, 
That was a mother, child," she said. 

"When Willie ran from school one day, 
Leaving his books for outdoor play, 
Taking the drink that led him wrong; 
The love that for the right made strong, 
That back to God him newly led, 
That was a mother, child," she said. 

"When Willie, crazed with drink, one day, 
Shot his companion in the fray, 
And all the world turned him aside; 
The love that kept right by his side, 
That woke him newly from the dead, 
That was a mother, child," she said. 

"A mother is the heart of love, 
Let in the world from heaven above; 
It can't be fathomed, measured, told, 
Nor bought with either silver, gold: 
If mother know its fountain head, 
You know the heart of God," she said. 



11 



COME BACK TO CHRIST AND MOTHER. 

T'S NO use talking longer, 
I can't go with you, boys; 

I hear a soft voice stronger, 

Than any earthly joys; 

For me 'tis like no other, 

Now I but hear it right: 

"Come back to Christ and mother; 

Come back, my boy, tonight." 

I heard you once too often, 
The night I went astray, 
And took the drink to soften, 
The cry of her dismay; 
And now I no more smother, 
I hear it but aright: 
"Come back to Christ and mother; 
Come back, my boy, tonight." 

It broke her heart, my straying 
So far away from God; 
Amany years she's laying, 
Beneath — beneath the sod; 
That voice unlike another, 
I hear it now aright: 
"Come back to Christ and mother; 
Come back, my boy, tonight." 

Aye, surely I'm not dreaming, 
She's with me as of yore; 
Her face — her face is beaming, 
With love all o'er and o'er; 
As I now hear no other, 
Than that which sets me right; 
"Come back to Christ and mother; 
Come back, my boy, tonight." 



12 



THE OLD SONGS. 

^jfHERE 'RE no songs like the old songs; 
^Us For they sweep my heartstrings o'er, 
With the melodies my mother sang, 
When I played about her door; 
When I crept into the loving arms, 
Tired out with the romp and play: 
Oh, there're no songs like the old songs, 
For they bring me back that day. 

Refrain: 

Oh, sing to me new their music, 
Bring back to my heart their charm: 
Let the melody soothe as it used to, 
Before I knew ill or harm. 

Oh, there're no hymns like the old hymns, 

For they breathe a mother's trust; 

A faith in God no doubt can shake, 

A love no time can rust: 

They waft me in their upward flight, 

On the wings of a mother's prayer: 

Oh, there're no hymns like the old hymns, 

For the sweetness of the air. 



13 



THE NEWSIE. 

Qf PAPER, Mister? This my last. 
£♦ Not oft I sell them out so fast. 
I sold, too, for the other boy, 
Who late his mother's only joy. 

"What's happened him? Where's he?" you say. 
Run o'er by auto yesterday. 
Always talking how he'd advance, 
If one would give him half a chance. 

Schooling he wanted; chance to learn, 
So more for mother might he earn. 
We make so little doesn't pay, 
To sell but papers all the day. 

We newsies help each other out, 
Tho' long or short may be the route; 
I'm doing what he would for me, 
If I were lying cold as he. 

All we but want is half a chance, 
To make our way in life, advance: 
A start upon the ladder's round, 
To lift our feet from off the ground. 



14 



THE WHEREFORE OF NON-CHURCH GOING. 

3jf THOUGHT you loved church-going, sister, 
**J You were wont so oft to go; 
But since the new church was builded, 
You've been absent a month or so. 

" 'Tis not from dislike of the pastor, 
For you've praised him oft, you know; 
And surely 'tis not the people, 
For you're friendly with them so." 

"To be honest and frank, I'll tell you 
What keeps me so long away; 
'Tis the pressure upon me of money, 
And of time from day to day. 

"And then the church budget appalls me, 
For 'tis growing year by year; 
When once the hundreds would answer, 
Now thousands expenses clear. 

"But thousands to be paid the pastor, 
And thousands to chorister, too; 
And then there's the church secretary, 
And printing bills not a few. 

"I tithe of all of my income, 
And the church should demand no more; 
For there are poor to be aided, 
Outside the church house door. 

"Till I find a church that is saving, 
That's run on the Christly plan; 
I'll stay outside its portals, 
And help a brother man." 



15 



THE WORST OF IT. 

2jf 'LL try no more doctors, mother, 
*** For they give me no relief: 
My distress is growing greater, 
And my life perforce is brief. 

"I heard of a healer lately, 
Who cures the most stubborn case: 
A Christian Science healer, 
Who'll any doctor face. 

"The cure is so simple, mother, 
She only breathes a prayer; 
And tells me, would you believe it? 
The pain was never there." 

"No doctoring like that, my daughter, 
Will perform a perfect cure: 
To say you've no pain, when you have one: 
Of that I'm very sure." 

"But the teaching is so Christly; 

For they turn the other cheek; 

And the love they talk in word and act, 

All men should know and seek." 

"The love is all right, my daughter, 
Of the Christian life, 'tis part; 
But the unbelief of the Science, belief, 
Is from teachings of Christ apart. 

"It sweeps away all that He taught us, 
That life for a life is the price; 
That He on the cross must be lifted 
To make for our sins sacrifice. 

"Don't lose your hope of salvation, 
In tenets of such a sect: 
With health of the soul and body, 
It cannot any infect." 



16 



MY COUNTRY. 

HERE the ensign of freedom, from shore unto shore, 
Floats back to the breeze — I am free evermore; 
Where the poor and downtrodden a refuge e'er see, 
Is the land of my country, the home of the free. 

Refrain: 

Oh, to take in her breath is to breathe freedom's air, 

And to dwell in the land her ideals to share; 

And to love her traditions the vision to see, 

Of the land of my country, the home of the free. 

For her speech is as free as the sweet-breathing air, 
And her worship the right to voice any prayer: 
And her thought is as broad as the wide rolling sea, 
In the land of my country, the home of the free. 

She was born in the hour of tyranny's might, 
And her birthright is freedom, her dower is sight; 
And great as her rivers that flow to the sea, 
Is the land of my country, the home of the free. 

For the stars and the stripes, her symbol of power, 
Shall be ever unfurled for liberty's hour; 
And the freedom of conscience her children e'er see, 
In the land of my country, the home of the free. 



17 



AMERICA FIRST. 

MERICA first! We lift the glad cry, 
In her do we live and for her will we die; 
Her liberty dear as the air which we breathe, 
For her take we arms, our swords we unsheathe; 
Unsullied her honor and stainless her flag, 
America first! our boast and our brag. 

Refrain: 

America first! our watchword and cry, 
Her standard we raise, her colors we fly; 
No foe may invade, no conqueror land, 
When America's first with her citizen band. 

America first! Her traditions and laws, 
Her ideals high to cherish our cause; 
The soil on which only her freemen hath trod, 
We will sacredly keep to her and her God: 
All, all to the colors we rally once more, 
America first! from shore unto shore. 



18 



A UNITED AMERICA. 

(W MERICA'S one in defense of her homes; 
f^ United to keep what her forefathers won, 
No difference of race, no color line marks 
The citizen-born from the alien son: 
One and inseparable hand clasps in hand, 
For America free and the flag of the land. 

America one in purpose and aim, 

Lifts higher and higher her standard of right: 

To the nation afar and the nation anear, 

Her liberty's torch in the darkness of night. 

No division of forces beclouds her far sight, 

For America's one in unconquerable might. 

One in her language, religion and thought, 
One in her ideals, traditions and laws, 
No foes make dissension, no enemy splits, 
The rank and the file devote to her cause: 
America one from sea unto sea, 
Withstands every foe a conqueror to be. 



19 



THE STARS AND STRIPES. 

ATH GOD forgot us, mamma, dear? 
So dark, so very dark the night: 
I've watched the clouds to see them clear, 
But not a star as yet in sight. 

"So many shone but yester-eve, 

I tried but could not count them all: 

I thought He surely would not grieve, 
His children either great or small." 

"Nor will He ever, my dear child, 
If thou dost learn to look aright; 

Above the clouds the stars so mild, 
Are shining through the darkest night. 

" 'Twas in the eve of long ago, 

When black the sky without a star; 

When we knew not the way to go, 
With danger threatening from afar. 

"An infant was our nation then, 
Emerging from the throes of war: 

No ensign for the sword or pen, 
Until our God gave us the star. 

"Slow lifted all the pensile cloud, 
To rift the blue in stripes apart: 

Lo! shining there above the shroud, 
A cluster star to show His heart. 

"The stars and stripes were so His gift, 
The emblem of His greater love: 

O'er us they wave to ever lift, 
Our nation to the light above." 



20 



THE FLAG. 

HAT is my flag to me ? 
A thought of country and of home, 
Where'er I be, where'er I roam: 
God keep her ever free. 

Her stars reflect yon starry blue, 
Her stripes its clouded hue; 
A thought of Him who guides as true, 
A nation in her courses, too. 

The symbol of a nation's power, 
A synonym for strength: 
Her standard in the peril's hour, 
Her rally hold at length. 

What wakes the flag in me? 
A love of country lying low, 
A purpose strong to do and be, 
To pay what sacrifice I owe. 

What signifies the flag to me? 
A nation of freedom and light, 
A people with hearts of might, 
A protectorate divine to see. 



21 



THE CONSCRIPT. 

HERE'S mother, little mother, 
I tell her, must somehow; 
I know she'll bear it bravely — 
That I'm a conscript now. 

She taught me love of country, 

And what the flag upholds; 
The liberty of thought and act, 

Each star and stripe unfolds. 

But mother is a widow, 

And I'm her only son; 
The sole support of aging years — 

But duty must be done. 

My country needs her men of strength, 

To fight her battles new; 
To keep what erst she fought to win, 

To be as brave and true. 

She taught me love of country, 

Was kin to love of God; 
That never, never should her soil, 

Be by the conquered trod. 

I know she'll give her blessing, 

And bravely say somehow — 
"I'm proud to be the mother, 

Of such a conscript now." 



22 



THE SLACKER. 

JUJjtJ HY, my boy, I didn't know you! 

^WD* How your glasses change your look! 
I've been reading in the paper, 
O'er the names the drafting took. 

"Proud was I to see among them 
Your name heading the top list; 
Knowing you would serve your country, 
Fighting to the very fist." 

"But my eyes have bothered lately, 
So they'll stand no test, I'm sure; 
And I've varicose veins, truly; 
Feet too flat to much endure. 

"I've no thought my land of leaving, 
Other nations' fight to fight; 
I'll at home the peace be keeping: 
Let them settle their wrongs right." 

"Too proud to fight! Shame on you, boy! 
You should be proud you're called to fight 
For home, for country and for God. 
Come, be a man and do what's right." 



23 



A MOTHER'S SACRIFICE 

2jf AM giving to my country, 
*** What is all the heart of me: 
My two brave and stalwart laddies, 
Now to fight across the sea. 

Giving them a mother's blessing, 
Speeding them upon their way; 

Knowing they will do me honor, 
At the battle's front and fray. 

Though farewell I say forever, 

I may send them forth with prayer: 

In defending home and country, 
God will have them in His care. 

I must be as brave and lo} r al, 

I must fight my battles, too; 
They must never think their mother, 

Would withhold her country's due. 

But my heart is sore within me, 
And I fain would see them stay; 

O, my God, give strength and courage, 
For this hardest of my day. 



24 



I'LL BE THINKING OF YOU, MOTHER. 

Jt 'LL BE thinking of you, mother, 
** When I lay me down to rest; 
With my knapsack for a pillow, 
And your picture on my breast; 
How you threw your arms around me, 
As I bade at last farewell; 
Bidding me to serve my country, 
As I had my God as well. 

Refrain: 

So you'll e'er remember, mother, 
How my heart turned oft to you; 
In the din and noise of battle, 
How your soldier boy was true. 

I'll be thinking of you, mother, 
When I'm called to face the foe; 
With the bullets whizzing o'er me, 
When my life is in the throe: 
What you taught of truth and honor, 
What of courage for the right; 
It will strengthen me in battle, 
It will nerve me for the fight. 

I'll be thinking of you, mother. 
When the bugle sounds retreat; 
Ere I'm mustered out forever, 
Ere the flag's my winding sheet: 
How you prayed the Lord to keep me, 
In the thickest of the fight; 
Trusting Him to bring me safety, 
Back to you and home's delight. 



25 



GOD'S CALL TO THE NATIONS. 

TJ AM calling you, my people, 

*** And ye hear nor heed my call; 

You have stopped your ear with pleasure; 

So ye list not my footfall. 

You have closed your heart with avarice, 

You have broken all my law; 

On my Sabbaths have you trampled, 

To from me the far withdraw. 

You are blinded with your passions, 
So you see no more the way; 
And the blackness of the midnight, 
Hath overtaken my noonday. 

I was crucified to teach you, 
What was worth your life to know: 
That love lived to one another, 
Will my peace alone bestow. 

I am calling you, my people, 
To return to me once more; 
With your strife my heart is rending 
And my love lies bleeding sore. 

Calling, will you hear me calling, 
From your shattered life and home? 
I will bind and heal your bruises, 
If from love no more you'll roam. 



26 



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